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Green Pastures: How Every Teenage World Cup Goal Scorer Ended Up

Julian Green's trip to Brazil was supposed to be a glorified vacation. As the last choice American attacker on a team with an array of veterans at the position, he never figured to see the field. But, the 19 year old German third division striker's journey ended up being a one month crash course on How To Be A World Cup Player—and a valuable one at that. His inclusion in the squad came at the cost of sort-of "taking" Landon Donovan's spot in the side—you know, the greatest American soccer player ever—yet Green, was selected for the future. Green's place on the 23-man United States roster was manager Jurgen Klinnsmann's way of preventing him from committing himself to Germany in 2018. That's how good Klinnsmann thinks Green can be.

Green's goal against Belgium exhibited a glipse of his upside, and made him one of 18 teenagers in history to score at a World Cup. It's close company, and some of the names Green joins are quite legendary: Lionel Messi and Mazzola both now share a resume bullet point with Julian Wesley Green. But who else shares this distinction? There might be a few other notable names on Green Pastures: How Every Teenage World Cup Goal Scorer Ended Up.